How many times have you stood at the stove cooking bacon? You splatter everything including those annoying “burns” on your hands. It wrinkles and rolls up. You have a hard time getting the ends to uncurl and cook. And if you’re cooking for company, you are missing all the action.

Well, I here to tell you, it is not necessary. Onto the tray and into the oven. You can preheat or not preheat. Done in about 20 minutes.

I initially though the taste would be different if oven baked. Nope, it tastes the same.

My Rating

A five. How could great bacon be anything else?

What oven temperature to use to bake bacon?

While I wrote this as 400 degrees convection, I have used as low as 375 conventional to 425 convection. The general rule, of course, is convection runs 25 degrees hotter than conventional. So 400 degrees convection is considered equivalent to 425 degrees conventional.

If cooking other things in the same oven at the same time, I use the temperature recommended for what else I’m cooking: a coffee cake, an oven-baked pancake, etc. I believe even 350 would be ok. Of course, adjust your time a little. You can also start with a cold oven and add a few minutes.

What type of bacon to use?

I usually use thick sliced Hormel Black Label bacon from Sam’s Club. I highly recommend this as one of the top bacon commonly available. But this will work with the bacon of your choice.

A thinner bacon will cook faster and does tend to stick more so parchment paper may be preferred to foil.

How long to cook bacon in the oven?

Most often this will be about 20 minutes. Your variables are the oven, the bacon, and finally, the crispiness you want.

The oven and bacon are discussed above. You have convention vs. conventional, the starting temperature and the actual temperature of the oven. And you have thin vs. thicker bacon.

Your done point is that it “looks done.” Don’t expect it to look different from pan-fried. I like my bacon very crispy, so I use 18-22 minutes depending on the oven and the bacon.

Variations in methods

To use a rack or not. Many feel it will make the bacon crisper. I don’t seem to have that problem, so I don’t use a rack. They are a pain to clean.

Foil vs. parchment paper. Parchment paper will be less likely to stick. Another problem I don’t have. I like the foil since it will contain the fat and make cleanup a breeze. As I have already said, thinner bacon tends to stick more to me and parchment paper is probably preferred for thinner bacon.

Some methods “wrinkled” the aluminum foil to get more wave in the bacon. I tried both methods, and I will stay “flat” since it still had some wave in it.

Other Great Breakfast Treats

Preheat oven to 400 degrees convection. Or start with a cold oven and add a few minutes. Line a sheet pan with a large sheet of aluminum foil (heavy-duty preferred) and turn up edges. Place bacon on sheet close together but not touching. (9-10 pieces). If your are doing thinner bacon or have issues with sticking then parchment paper may be a better choice for you.

Place in the middle of the oven for 18 minutes and come back. Time will vary with the thickness of the bacon and your taste. It is done when it looks done. I like my bacon very crispy, so I use 20-22 minutes with thick bacon. Drain on paper towels.

If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated. Especially any recipe that has no rating please. Thank You and have a great day.

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Votes: 44 Rating: 4.27 You:

Rate this recipe!

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Easy step by step photo instructions to cooking bacon in the oven. Nothing is better than great bacon.

CourseBreakfast

CuisineAmerican

Servings

Prep Time

52 slice servings

3minutes

Cook Time

18minutes

Servings

Prep Time

52 slice servings

3minutes

Cook Time

18minutes

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Votes: 44 Rating: 4.27 You:

Rate this recipe!

Print Recipe

Easy step by step photo instructions to cooking bacon in the oven. Nothing is better than great bacon.

CourseBreakfast

CuisineAmerican

Servings

Prep Time

52 slice servings

3minutes

Cook Time

18minutes

Servings

Prep Time

52 slice servings

3minutes

Cook Time

18minutes

Ingredients

10slicesbacon

Servings: 2 slice servings

Units:

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees convection. Or start with a cold oven and add a few minutes.

Line a sheet pan with a large sheet of aluminum foil (heavy-duty preferred) and turn up edges. Place bacon on sheet close together but not touching. ( up to 9-10 pieces). If you have issues with sticking or using thinner bacon then parchment paper may be a better choice.

Place in the middle of the oven. Do something else for 18 minutes and come back. Time will vary with the thickness of the bacon and your taste. It is done when it looks done. I like my bacon very crispy, so I use 20-22 minutes with thick bacon.

Drain on paper towels and pat "dry" with another paper towel.

Last Updated December 9, 2016

Nutrition Facts

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Amount Per Serving

Calories 70Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 3g15%

Cholesterol 10mg3%

Sodium 160mg7%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin C6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information are estimates and can vary from your actual results. This is home cooking and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Had too cook it a few minutes longer, but EASY clean up & I didn’t get popped with grease or have to stand there flipping bacon! Turned out perfect & was able to cook all the rest of breakfast, while bacon took care of itself :)

I put mine on parchment paper on a jelly roll pan….it never sticks and for clean up I just wait to grease is hard…. Well till we have had breakfast and it grease just peels right off pan with just some residual grease left to clean off pan when you toss paper out….I have been doing my bacon like this for years now and my family loves it:)

This definitely has possibilities. My first attempt went a little too long (~14 minutes) but I used bacon of normal thickness. Next time I will try 10 minutes.

Up until now I had done bacon in the skillet with olive oil. That, plus the fat released by the bacon created an almost ‘deep fry’ effect and the result was light, crispy bacon – really not too bad. I will have to run the oven method by my wife. She is the bacon lover in the family. Interesting experiment, though. Thanks.

This is variable with bacon thickness and your oven. It may stick more if you bacon is high in sugar. I only use thick black label and it take 20-22 minutes every time and almost never has any sticking. I like the “deep fry” effect also and this does it. Some people use a rack or wrinkle the foil. Not for me. Thanks for the comment and have fun experimenting. DrDan

I was looking for a good oven bacon recipe, since I’ve never tried it before. I started reading yours, and I was thinking “she knows her bacon.” And then you mentioned one of my favorites – Hormel Black Label. I’m an Iowa girl myself, so when you mentioned this, I laughed and wasn’t surprised! If you ever get to Kansas City, the only thing I’ve ever found better than Black Label is Boar’s Head. It’s at Hen House grocery stores, and I highly recommend it. I haven’t tried you’re directions yet, but I’m about to for a recipe for my family back in Iowa!

I do believe I’ve had Boar’s Head 35 plus years ago. We spent two years in Kansas City and loved it. We still have Gate’s BBQ sauce sent in by the case. I do highly recommend Black Label. An excellent bacon.

Pay attention since there is some variability due to your oven, thickness of bacon and sugar content of the bacon.

This works Perfectly! Just cook it ’til it’s done! I like a bit less time for mine, since I like chewy bacon.

Black Label is yummy bacon, but whenever you feel like splurging on a treat, I suggest trying Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon. I get it without the pepper. It’s awfully expensive, but it is truly heavenly.

I’m cheap. The cost of $7.00 / lb of bacon is high enough so I skip the aluminum foil and the non stick foil and the parchment paper and simply use a “very well seasoned” cookie pan. Rarely does anything stick to these pans of mine. They are so dark that they make cast iron seasoned pans hang their heads in shame. Anyway, this morning was the first time we tried doing bacon in the oven, had to make 4 lbs of it for a friendly/family gathering and it worked great.

My wife used to do all the bacon cooking as she hated the splatter that I’d leave behind to be cleaned up, but that meant if she was cooking bacon on the stove it was about an hour or more process at super low heat to avoid the splatter, I think we’ve found out new method.

Thank you! Fried up awesomely and such easy clean up. My pan must be smaller than yours because I could only fit 6 slices and leave a small space between as your picture showed, but since there were 12 in the pack, it worked out fine to do half at a time. I used regular foil since I didn’t have any heavy duty and just used an extra layer in case. I laid it flat like you suggested. When the first batch was finished, I spooned out the grease before laying down the second batch. I ended up only doing 18 minutes because that’s what worked in my oven to get it well-done. Thank you so much!

This version puts the bacon in a hot oven. It is fine to start in a cold oven but ovens heat up at different rates so time is unpredictable. Go ahead and put it in your cold oven and start. Watch closely for the done point then you will have your own method.

I know this is an old post but I’m bored and randomly got the day off.

I can never get oven cooking right. I’ve tried with rack, without rack, and combinations of starting with a cold oven or preheating. The texture never comes out right.

Also Horemel Black label ugh, they never cook evenly for me (some parts over cooked and other parts barely cooked.), pan frying, oven or microwave never is right. I use regular cut as I don’t like thick so that may be differen. I prefer Oscar Mayer or second best for me is Acme/Jewel grocery store generic(and whatever others their parent company owns.)

I will say the oven is superior for making lots at once when having guests over even if I don’t quite like the texture.

To some extent yes but… My experience is that it is just not quit the same. So you have the tradeoff between convince and time vs taste and texture. Google reheat bacon and you will find several recommendations.

Suggestion for the battle of parchment vs aluminum foil: Line pan with foil for the ability to contain the grease and easy cleanup but put a piece of parchment on top of foil for the anti-stick properties.

God bless the compromiser. It does seem to be a great debate that many take very seriously. I admit to being a foil person due to laziness. I did two trays of bacon this morning with no sticking. But if it is an issue for the readers, I love your idea. So everybody, go with the other good doctor’s suggestion. Foil line with parchment paper on top of the foil. The best of both worlds. Thanks Doc

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